Customer Reviews

Fanny: Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of my favorite books of all time. The kind you want to devour, but then you put down between chapters to savor and never want to end. It's got everything. Women's rights, motherhood, witches, thirst for knowledge, love, lust, and a story to capture your heart and imagination.

I read this book when it first came out a number of years ago and I never forgot it. It's not Sophocles or Gabriel Garcia Marquez--it's just a great picarasque novel. I looked high and low to buy it for years but it had gone out of print. Finally, I discovered it at a bookstore in Sydney a couple of years ago and I was elated! Enjoy the read.

Fanny is an amazing book. It has everything: Adventure, ideas, a wonderful plot, interesting characters - and it emulates very well the 18th century novel style, without compromising on the freshness or the originality of the content. Every woman should read this book.

What can I say, I'm hooked on Erica Jong! My first experience of her work was when I picked up a 2nd hand copy of Any Woman's Blues for AU$2.50. The best 2.50 I have ever spent. I have not read anything but E.J books since then. From there I went to Parachutes and Kisses, and now I have just completed Fanny. What a masterpiece. I didn't want it to end. I am a 22 year old woman with the world at my feet, just like Fanny Hackabout Jones, she's inspirational, brilliant, and just what I was looking for in my own life's directions. Well done, a pleasure to read. I can't wait to pick up the next E.J book to continue my journey into her worlds.

T.Leggett

Sydney Australia.

I've always liked Jong, and certainly haven't read everything she's written, but I think this is my favorite of all those I have. As the last reviewer noted, this is essentially a 'corrected-by-the-real (fictional)-person' rewrite of Cleland's Fanny Hill, and is certainly more feminist. It also benefits from Jong's extensive knowledge of 18th century English literature, which she has an MA in from Columbia. I loved the plot, the wonderful characters, the humor, the sex, and the fascinating insight into a woman's life in this period.

This book is a parody of the erotic book, "Fanny Hill, or, the Memoirs of A Woman of Pleasure" by John Cleland, written in the 1700's. that's why Jong's book has such archaic words & phrases. Read them both.

I loved Fanny. At first I had a rough time getting used to the fact that she seemed to capatilize every other word. This story upset me a lot at first but I kept reading in the hopes that something good would happen to this poor girl. This book is a wonderful adventure that every free spirit and especially every woman should read. Dont give up on it half way through either. See it all the way to the end. If ever I am bored I will reread Fanny again and go on her many wonderful adventures.

I was so happy that I could find a copy of this book. I purchased it to replace the one that I let my cousin borrow.

While this book is not for everyone, it does contain explicit sex scenes, it is a novel full of high adventure, love lost, love found and often a very amusing novel that many would enjoy!

There are times where your jaw will drop at how open Erica Jong is about the unsavory aspects of Fanny's sexual experiences. Fanny has a very interesting journey that takes you all over the place and through several different cultural landscapes. It's definitely worth reading. It's relatively light, but at times - like discussing the slave trade - important points are contrasted in a surprising way.

I enjoyed this book, but I was a little let down when I picked up Jong's Fear of Flying which seems to typify the bulk of her work. You wonder where she ever came up with the idea for Fanny. It was truly an original tale, written by someone that doesn't get stuck in a romance genre rut.